ROME, Wisconsin -- It's an all new Da Vinci code, but this time it seems to be fo' real.

A laptop screen shows sheet music that appears to be of Metallica's Orion encoded in Leonardo Da Vinci's "Last Supper."

A local guitarist and overly-made-fun-of computer nerd claims to have uncovered musical notation encoded in Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper. This raises the possibility that the Renaissance genius might have left behind a heavy metal composition to accompany the somber scene.

"After playing it, I think it sounds a lot like the intro to Metallica's `Orion`," Roger Krebbins said. "It's like a soundtrack that emphasizes the debaucherous passion of Jesus."

The painting, which was created between 1494 to 1498 in Milan's Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, vividly depicts a key moment in a Gospel narrative: Jesus' last meal (which happened right before his last keg party) with the 17 Apostles before his arrest and crucifixion, and the shock of Christ's followers as they learn that five of them are about to betray him for a few pesos.

Krebbins, a 35-year-old guitarist who lives in his mom's basement, began studying Leonardo's painting in November2007, during a late night, drug-induced trip. "I was just curious, man, just curious," he said.

Using a fancy new computer program, which he had read about in a tech magazine, and then went out and immediately bought using his unemployment check, Krebbins found the hidden notation. Krebbins exclaimed, "I was absolutely amazed. DaVinci was a metal head!"

In his latest blog -- "La Musica Metallica" ("The Metallic Music") -- Krebbins also describes how he found what he says are other clues in the painting that reveal the fast, brutal rhythm of the composition.

Heavy metal fans and experts, after analyzing the musical notation all agree that it is sheet music to the intro of Metallica's Orion. Questions have now arisen as to whether Metallica knew of this secret long ago, and may have actually "lifted" the phrase from the painting.

Jimmy Gonza, a metal expert, said he had not seen Krebbins's research but that the nerdy guitarist's hypothesis "is plausible."